makeing solos

ok, i still can't figure out how to make a solo over some chord progression. i've looked at alot of the lessons on here and can't find one to help me.

alot of people use scales to guide themselves into solos... and there are many kinds... from blues to pentatonic or whatever...try learningscales and hop around different positions...i suck at scales but thats what i think it's abt...can someone correct me if im wrong?

Record the backing progression then put it on a loop. Listen to it over and over and hum/sing/whistle along what comes into your mind. Then, work it out on the guitar. I never work with scales or think about key signatures etc. You'll find that you can hear the perfect solo in your mind but can't play it with your hands. Thats when you sit down and break it down bit by bit. A lot of people get into difficulty writing solos because they just play a load of practice runs or scales, don't fall into that category. Give it a go, it works.

Try paying attention to the notes in the chords your using for your backing track as well as the rhythm of the backing track. Don't necessarily limit yourself to those notes or that particular rhythm, but let those guide you as a starting point.

Originally Posted by: jeffhxalot of people use scales to guide themselves into solos... and there are many kinds... from blues to pentatonic or whatever...try learningscales and hop around different positions...i suck at scales but thats what i think it's abt...can someone correct me if im wrong?

thats part of my problem. i pretty much every scale, but i don't know how to use them.

Pick any two or three notes from the scale in question, and improvise some simple progressions over your backing tracks. Try to make your progressions as interesting as possible using only the handful of notes you've selected. When you've established a groove that you're happy with, gradually add other notes from the scale.

When you become confident with this exercise, record yourself doing it. You can then take the progressions you've come up with and arrange them into licks, runs and motifs. This way, you'll compose a solo that sounds natural and distinctive.

Have a look through the multitrack tutorials I did awhile back.
Stuff like Anatomy of a Multitrack etc...
Usually what I'll do is record the background music first, then I'll use a track to just sing a lead vocally. (put on some headphones, turn it way up and really get into it if ya know what I mean)
It's easier to improvise an idea for a solo if you aren't paying attention to what your fingers are doing, or thinking about scales and stuff.
Then listen back to what you sang and learn your own solo a few bars at a time.
I can't remember exactly which tutorials they were but I did a couple of examples of singing a lead and then redoing it on guitar.
There's also a trick you can use by recording a lead on multiple tracks and then joining them together.
You'll probably find some other stuff that'll be helpful too cause I went through the whole process of recording a song one instrument at a time, adding the solo, writing the lyrics and doing vocals etc.

how do i know what scales to use for a certain chord progression? and also, how can i incorporate arpegios and stuff like that into the solo?

Find the root of the song. For instance, if the chords are "C-F-G-C" or something, odds are that song is in C major. So play the Cmajor scale. Then, if you want to incorporate arpeggios, you can do the arps from the various diatonic chords of Cmajor. C, Am, Dm, Em, F, G, etc.

Originally Posted by: Jolly McJollysonFind the root of the song. For instance, if the chords are "C-F-G-C" or something, odds are that song is in C major. So play the Cmajor scale. Then, if you want to incorporate arpeggios, you can do the arps from the various diatonic chords of Cmajor. C, Am, Dm, Em, F, G, etc.

ok, i don't know what you mean by various diatonic chords. i'm assuming that those are just a bunch of other chords whose arpegios work well with a c chord. is there a way to find diatonic chords for chords that aren't a c major? sry if my question doesn't make sense.

Originally Posted by: ryrysweetiepieok, i don't know what you mean by various diatonic chords. i'm assuming that those are just a bunch of other chords whose arpegios work well with a c chord. is there a way to find diatonic chords for chords that aren't a c major? sry if my question doesn't make sense.

Ok, if the song is in Cmajor, there are various diatonic, or things within the key, chords you can use. C-Dm-Em-F-G-Am-Bdim. Any of those can be arpeggiated. Just use the chords that inclue any of the notes C-D-E-F-G-A-B-C, and that's just the diatonic stuff. You can do chromatic (out of the key) chords like bVI or bIII. Or Vii*7 which would end you up with an Ab.

Also to broaden the range of your soloing it would be helpful if you had all your scale modes memorized. Different scale degrees or modes have different emotional appeals by nature, and applying the modes is a helpful soloing/improvising technique. No matter how you look at it though, you really need to know what key you are in as well as what chords are in the progression, because those things will tell you what can appropriately be played.

try just playing the notes of the scales in different rythms . starting and stopping the notes at different times. just experiment with it. im bad at explaining what im talking about but hopefully you understand.

i think the minor pentatonic scale is the easiest scale to solo with.

What I like to do is listen to the chord progression looped. I make up a solo in my head and i write it out using the correct key. I usually look up some cool scales and arpeggios then i throw them on top of the progression.

You might not bang out something amazing at first but it takes time.

if you have a chord progression you should find that all the notes in the chords fit into one or moe of the basic scale shapes eg majour scale. when you play your progresssion try to work out by ear which chord is the 'root' chord. you will probably find it is the chord you start on. if it is for instance G majour play the g majour scale shape, and if it is Eminor play the Eminor shape. this is only a ruff guide and if you use more complex chord progressions you might find it a bit limited. its not that the theory isnt complete just that it gets far more complicated so for now do the above.